A decade in the Altai Republic, Russia by writer & translator Joanna Dobson

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A Note of Confidence

There are so many things I feel insecure about in this gift life I am living. All those fretful hours make me fear that ‘worrying’ has simply become a habit. Yet, as I mature in age I find at last, a confidence appearing that comes from none of the places I thought it would; not in realising I already had the figure I always wanted; not in being found desirable; not in establishing my career, nor in earning more money.

The moments in which I experience iron rod confidence are the moments in which I see the spirits are present. In these moments I am strong and freed by the strength of pure integrity – not because the spirits give me strength, but because my certainty of their presence is immune to any doubt… that this be the source of my confidence remains an unfathomable revelation on my path into adulthood.

My Latest Diary post: Capoeira Diary

On Writing About Altai

“It is hard to describe Altai or indeed anything which moves one so deeply in a place that is unaccustomed to words. It is not enough to describe the colours, the light, the people one meets or the landscape. This would be relatively easy. One tries as much to capture that which Altai touches in oneself that one did not know was there, and the wholeness or mystery of Altai which lies in no one thing and can be elucidated by no one field of knowledge.” Joanna